


Tick, Tick...

by HerRenegadeHeart



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-30
Packaged: 2018-05-09 01:00:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5519621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerRenegadeHeart/pseuds/HerRenegadeHeart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the loft not a creature was stirring... except Kara, who was trying desperately to figure out why she couldn't shake the odd feeling of dread that had woken her...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE! I'd like to dedicate this randomness to my sweet Anonymous fan who pokes me on Tumblr to check on my writing progress! Thank you, lovely, for taking a minute out of your day to remind me that what I write is appreciated. You (and all of my readers) are absolutely awesome!

Kara wasn't entirely sure what woke her. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and glanced around the darkened loft, but saw nothing suspicious. The shadows were in the right place, the creaks and groans of the older building were all the same. The only thing that was different was the not-precisely-soft snoring of Alex from the couch and even that wasn't extremely out of the ordinary as her sister always tended to snore when she was overtired or had fallen asleep while drunk.

This was one of the latter situations. It was their tradition, to spend Christmas Eve together watching movies, eating cookies, and drinking eggnog. Alex was a _big_ fan of eggnog.

Kara had tried to move her to the bed when the older woman had fallen asleep, but Alex had growled immediately upon being touched and in rather colorful, slurred speech proceeded to threaten an eggnog-vomit spectacular and an inordinate amount of grumpiness if Kara attempted to move her again.

If she'd only been tipsy, Kara would have just rolled her eyes and sped her sister over to the bed before another word could be said, but in this instance, she knew leaving overly-drunk Alex to sleep wherever she dropped really was the better plan. Kara had found out the hard way that puke-covered sheets were not a fun thing.

So, instead she'd propped Alex's head up with a pillow and after retrieving a bucket (just in case), some aspirin, and a big glass of water (which she left on the coffee table), had covered her with the warmest blanket she had and left her sister to sleep it off.

Alex snorted in that moment and Kara could just make out her sister's silhouette as she shifted positions slightly before settling again. Kara smirked and dropped back down into her own pillows, wiggling a bit to get more comfortable. She closed her eyes again…

…But just couldn't shake the feeling that there was… something… _off_.

She opened her eyes again and frowned up at the shadowed ceiling. There was something different, something unusual, that was setting her on edge, but she really, truly could not… put… her finger on… what… it… wa—

_Wait_. Was that…?

She focused on her hearing and the moment she did, she realized what was off.

_TICK, tick, TICK, tick, TICK, tick._

Kara was confused. She was used to the softer ticks —that was Alex's watch— but the louder, sharper ones…

She didn't have analog clocks for the sole reason that after a while the sound began to bug her. Even without her concentrating on her hearing, her "alien ears" (as she tended to refer to them when around Winn and James) still picked up more than the average human. That was why she kept only digital clocks in the apartment.

Well, no, that wasn't entirely true. She did have the orange clock above her refrigerator, she remembered, but the batteries in it had died months ago and she'd ultimately found that she actually preferred the silence the dead clock had to offer over the _tick, tick, tick_ of passing time.

So where was this other mystery ticking coming from?

Knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep again until she figured it out, she threw the comforter off of her and climbed to her feet. She padded into the living room as quietly as she could so not to wake Alex and stopped a foot or so from the couch. She squinted her eyes (because, for some reason, squinting made her super hearing work better) and listened harder, trying to zero in on the source.

It took her only a few moments and then she frowned, turning her head toward the Christmas tree she and Alex had set up between the TV and the couch, close to the window (but not blocking it, of course, just in case she needed to make a quick exit). All their presents for each other and their (foster) mom had been placed under it earlier that evening, ready for when Eliza arrived in the morning to spend Christmas with them.

She knew the gifts she'd gotten her sister and Eliza didn't have anything that could produce the sound she was hearing. Had Alex gotten one of them a clock or something? It wasn't beyond the realm of possibilities, but something about it still made her uneasy for some reason.

She'd promised Alex she wouldn't peek ( _"X-ray vision is just as bad as opening them up!"_ Alex reminded every year), but she just wanted to check. Alex would get over it, she decided.

Kara crouched by the tree and squinted her eyes slightly (okay, so squinting helped with more than one power), peering immediately through paper, bows, and boxes to the gifts inside. She smiled at some, raised her eyebrow at others. She was definitely going to have to have a discussion with Alex about the type of music she clearly thought Kara liked. The "Glee: The Music - The Complete Season 4" CD? _Really?_

The one present that actually gave her pause, however, was the one inside the lead box. She rolled her eyes at that. Did Alex really not trust her that much? That she'd seriously put a gift inside a lead box? _Brat_.

Blinking rapidly for a moment as her vision returned to normal, Kara stood back up, crossing her arms, and pursed her lips in thought. She was about to brush off the odd feeling in her gut as her just being weird, but then she noticed something — the present holding the lead box was wrapped in a different paper than all the other presents Alex had brought over. She supposed Alex could have had it gift-wrapped at a store or something, but…

Reaching forward, she picked up the present and turned it over in her hands for a moment before catching the card and tilting it toward the moonlight so she could read it. She frowned slightly at the words. It read:

_May you and yours be filled with explosive joy this Christmas._

It didn't, however, say who it was from. _Weird_ , she thought.

"Kara?"

Kara jumped at the sound of Alex's sleep-and-alcohol-thick voice. She turned toward the couch. "I'm sorry, Alex," she said softly upon seeing that her sister was in fact awake and not just talking in her sleep, "I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't." Alex blinked a few times and focused in on Kara's hands. She frowned slightly. "Are you peeking? You promised."

"No, I know. And I just— I'm not? Not really. I'm just…" She held out the present toward Alex. "Did you bring this one?" She hadn't actually seen Alex bring it, but then she'd been pouring the eggnog when her sister had been putting her gifts under the tree and hadn't really been paying all that much attention. "Because there isn't a name on it."

"What?" Alex scrubbed her face with her hand and then squinted tiredly at Kara, her frown only deepening at the blonde's reply. "Kara it's like—" She looked at her watch and after a couple of moments of intense staring and blinking, no doubt trying to get her vision to blur a little less, continued, saying, "It's like three-something in the morning. Do you really need to know this very second?"

Kara supposed it didn't _really_ matter, but… "Please?"

With a huff, Alex pushed herself up into a sitting position and waved an I'm-not-pleased-but-let-me-see-it-anyway hand at Kara.

Kara held the package out closer to the older Danvers sister so she could see it.

Alex shrugged. "No idea. S'not mine. I didn't bring it." She closed her eyes and rubbed her left temple with her fingertips.

Kara frowned deeply. "But…" she protested, that uneasy feeling in her stomach changing from an ache to a gnawing worry, "If you didn't bring it… how did it get here?"

There was a beat and then Alex reopened her eyes, turning her head back toward Kara. Her frown remained, but Kara could see now that it had less to do with her headache and exhaustion and had turned into an expression of confusion and a hint of concern instead. "Kara, what are you talking about? How could a present magically appear?" she questioned. "You're sure you didn't bring one home from work and forget?"

"No," Kara replied with a shake of her head. "Winn, James, and I exchanged gifts at game night two days ago and Cat, well, the closest she ever gets to giving gifts is almost pronouncing my name right."

"You really need to be more assertive about that," Alex murmured.

"The last time I was more assertive, I ended up having to sit in a bar and drink martinis with her for three and a half hours," Kara pointed out. It wasn't that she hadn't valued the information Cat had imparted on her, but… still…

"You hate martinis."

"That is my entire point."

"Okay, so… what? I don't…" Alex trailed off, shaking her head, and Kara could tell that her sister was now as confused as she was.

"I don't know either. But there's a noise," Kara said, "A ticking sound. It's coming from in here."

"A ticking sound from within the mystery box…?"

"And… well, I used my x-ray vision to check the presents—"

"Kara, you promised!" Alex scolded.

Kara winced slightly. "I know, I'm sorry. But Alex, whatever is in this box is encased in lead."

There was a beat. "…What?"

"I can't see through it." The gnawing began twisting, too, and alarms were going off in her head. Something wasn't right. "And it's not one of my gifts." She took a breath. "So, if you didn't bring it…"

Alex pushed herself up onto her feet, clear alarm written across her face. "I didn't," she confirmed, voice tense.

Kara shifted her weight, uneasy. "And you don't think…you don't think that your mom left it when she was over earlier?" Eliza always spent a couple of days at Christmas with Kara and Alex, but she refused to leave the gifts she had gotten them under the tree for fear that certain "best, favorite, wonderful, but entirely naughty" girls (as she referred to them, the last bit always the addendum around Christmastime) would peek. She always kept them at her hotel until Christmas day, but, Kara thought, maybe this time…?

"I don't know," Alex offered slowly. "Maybe?"

Kara frowned at her sister's tone. Alex clearly didn't actually think so and frankly, Kara didn't either.

"I'm just going to open it," she announced abruptly.

"Kara—"

"No, it's going to drive me insane until I know."

"And if Mom did leave it?"

That gave Kara a moment of pause. "…Well, then I'll explain why I needed to open it. She'll forgive me." She started peeling back the red and gold paper. "And besides, it's the 'What if Eliza _didn't_ leave it?' question that really has me wanting to know for sure what's inside."

"Kara, I don't know if this is a good idea…"

She ignored Alex and took off the rest of the paper, tossing it toward the couch. She saw out of the corner of her eye as her sister picked it up and looked at the tag. She saw the resulting frown, too.

In her hands Kara held the lead box. It was about the size of cinderblock and, from what she could see, had no distinguishing markings on the outside. She reached for the lid.

Alex's head snapped up. "Kara, don't!" she tried to warn.

But it was too late. Kara heard it the moment she pried the lid open — a distinct _click-hiss_ followed by the sudden, rapid speeding-up of the ticking sound.

And then the green light seeped through the crack and the weakness overwhelmed her. She immediately knew what it was — _kryptonite_.

Kara gasped and stumbled two steps backwards.

"Kara!"

"No, Alex, don't!" she wheezed when she saw her sister begin to move toward her, eyes wide with concern.

She wanted to shut the box again, block the piece of her once-home from digging its poisonous tendrils deep into her skin, but she had to know… had to know…

Ignoring the sound of protest from her sister, she pulled the lid the rest of the way off and after fighting back a second wave of intense weakness, peered inside.

"Oh, God."

The sound she had been hearing, the ticking, had indeed been coming from a clock …and they had just run out of time.

Kara snapped her head back up and met Alex's alarmed gaze. She didn't think, there was no time to, she just dropped the box and used what strength hadn't been ripped from her by the kryptonite to launch herself at her sister.

She tackled Alex a moment before a raging force of heat and thunder slammed into her from behind. Searing, slicing, breath-robbing pain bloomed in a burning rush and then it all went dark.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TBC! Muahahahaha! I hope to have the second half of this up tomorrow, as a gift to you glorious people! Cross your fingers that I will have the time in all this holiday madness to wrap it up. HAHAHA I made a pun.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised this on Christmas and here in the EST timezone, it is STILL CHRISTMAS! So I made it! Sorry to all my lovelies in different timezones that didn't get this on the day of... but at least it's still here? I worked on it all day and in the haze of presents and family craziness, a few typos may have slipped in... or not. I don't know. 
> 
> Anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS (to those who celebrate it)!!! I hope you all had a splendid day!
> 
> Now, here is my gift to you!

The sounds were different. The creaks and groans were no longer the same. Everything sounded raucous and strained and _wrong_.

And it was all so loud, _too_ loud. She wanted it to stop.

She broached consciousness in a warm haze, meeting it with hesitance and then instant regret the moment the warmth turned to burning agony. She gasped loudly, the pain so intense that her throat seized, strangling the tortured cry that tried to escape.

"Kara!"

She knew that voice, rough and choked as it was. _Alex_. There was a palpable relief in the single word that Kara picked up on even through the fog of biting, burning, slicing torment.

"Kara?" Suddenly Alex's face, begrimed with dust and blood, came into view above her. Kara hadn't even realized she'd opened her eyes.

"What—" Kara croaked, unconsciously trying to shift her weight to get away from the pain.

"No, no! Shhh, lie still, Kara. Just lie still," Alex said, adding careful pressure to Kara's shoulder to halt her movements.

Kara whimpered in distress, then panted harshly for what felt like forever before she was able to fully speak. "What happened?" she asked, though the moment the question was out of her mouth, the memories began flashing white through her brain. The ticking, the lead box, diving at Alex.

 _The explosion_.

"Alex?" she whispered, eyes wide.

Her sister seemed to understand what she was asking with the solitary, strained word because she gave her a weepy smile and said, "I'm okay… thanks to you." Then she frowned, expression turning angry. "And if you weren't hurt right now, I would slap you for it."

With her dazed brain still trying to catch up, Kara couldn't for the life of her quite process why Alex would be upset with her. At this point, after spending the past however long being Supergirl, helping people, tackling her sister to keep her out of harm's way had just been second nature. And more than that, they were sisters, they protected each other. She knew that Alex knew that, too. So, why—

The question came to a startling halt when something else flashed through her mind.

_Green light, reaching out through a crack, making her shaky, making her nauseous._

_Making her weak._

…And then she remembered — _kryptonite_.

The recollection answered so many questions, like why Alex was so upset and why she was in so much pain, but it also presented so many more. Who had left the bomb? How did they know where she lived? Why did they want her dead? They all flitted about her already muddled mind, confusing her all the more. None of it made sense.

"Kara?" Alex questioned and Kara blinked, realizing she'd fallen silent and it was worrying her sister.

"M'sorry," she murmured after a moment, though the apology wasn't for placing herself in the way of the danger to protect her sister, but for upsetting her. "Are you really okay?" She needed to know, needed to be sure.

Alex gave a somewhat unsteady nod. "I'm fine."

"You're using that tone," Kara accused hoarsely.

"What tone?"

"The same one you used when you punched Jesse Barker in the face for calling me a freak and broke your wrist, but you didn't want to admit you were hurt."

A momentary glimmer of satisfaction crossed Alex's face. "Jesse Barker was a punk."

Kara was about to point out that Alex was not denying her use of the tone and what that tone meant when a hot spike of pain shot up her back, distracting her from her interrogation. She tensed, closing her eyes and sucking in a sharp breath. When it ebbed back down to a burning roar, she returned her attention to Alex's concerned face and asked, "How bad?"

"You're going to be fine," Alex tried, stroking a hand gently over Kara's forehead and back into her hair. Kara immediately picked up on the waver beneath the strength in her sister's voice though and knew she was lying.

" _Alex_." She wanted the truth.

Alex deflated slightly, composure faltering. "It was a bomb, Kara. It blew up your apartment. We're trapped and you're bleeding." _Too much._ Her sister didn't say it, but Kara could still hear the unspoken words in the way Alex dropped the sentence and in the shaky little breaths she took in between words. She reached a trembling hand up toward her sister and held it there until Alex finally closed the distance and took it in her own.

That certainly explained why the sounds were different and wrong. With the pain and the confusion, she hadn't quite realized the extent of the damage to her loft. It was… well, extensive.

From what she could see, the ceiling had collapsed and most of her building's roof (at least the portion above her apartment) was now a jumbled mess of debris all across her living room and kitchen. Thank God she lived on the top floor. She didn't even want to think what could have happened if there had been people living above her.

Everything was a smoking, sparking upheaval of collapsed beams, shredded furniture, shattered glass, and crumbled brick. The hardwood floors were scorched, all the windows were blown out, her beautiful airy curtains were black and smoldering. She honestly had no idea how they both had survived.

What made it worse was that most of the destruction seemed to be firmly located between them and the door. From what Kara could see from where she was lying on the floor, there was no clear (or even mildly-hindered) way through.

Still, they were alive and that was what mattered.

Turning her gaze back upward to Alex, Kara squeezed her sister's hand and gave a weak smile. "We'll be alright," she whispered. "We'll get through this together."

That small bit of pressure and her soft words seemed to be Alex's undoing because the tears that had been on the precipice of falling ever since Kara had regained consciousness (and likely even before) began to escape down her sister's cheeks, leaving clean trails through the grime. "It was a _kryptonite_ bomb, Kara. The-the shrapnel." She shook her head, sucking in more shaky, hiccuped breaths. "You aren't healing and I-I-I can't stop it. I've been trying, but it's not… it's not working."

Kara winced when Alex added more pressure to the particularly agonizing spot on her lower torso that her sister had been, Kara realized, pressing down on the whole time. _Trying to keep pressure_. "So Kryptonians being able to bleed out is a thing," Kara mused lightly through the pain. She hadn't really known (or really considered) it before. "The interesting tidbits you learn when everything goes to hell…"

"This is not a joke!" Alex snapped. "The kryptonite ripped right through you here and God knows how much more you've been impaled with, how much more is floating around inside y—"

"Impaled? That's a bit dramatic, wouldn't you say?"

"Kara, your back is…"

"What?"

"Torn up." Alex shook her head again and Kara could see she was struggling to keep a firm hold on her distress. "It's bad."

That certainly explained why she felt so… shitty, Kara thought. She generally wasn't one to cuss, not even when thinking, but there really was no other word to describe it.

Losing her powers and breaking her arm had been horrendous, but there was just something about kryptonite that made everything so very much worse. Her broken arm had been a localized pain that had gradually radiated outward. Kryptonite both weakened her and set her every nerve ablaze. Combine that with being blown up and, apparently, skewered by God only knew how many poisonous, radioactive space rocks…

"So, not the best situation," Kara offered, "but we've been in worse?"

The fear-induced anger slipped free of Alex's face and she snorted slightly, rolling her eyes. "When?" she breathed.

"Ummmmm…" Kara thought hard for a few seconds trying to remember a situation. "How about the time Lexie Grey died on Grey's Anatomy?"

Alex frowned. "She's a fictional character, Kara…"

"Yes, true, but if you remember, we were so distraught we didn't sleep for something like two days and were so out of it we ended up eating that super out-of-date ice cream from the back of my freezer?"

There was a pause and then Alex gave a contemplative nod. "I knew those weren't chocolate chips."

"Right. And you in the hospital with food poisoning? Way worse than this. I thought I'd killed you."

"That _was_ a pretty rough time," Alex conceded.

"Or," Kara continued, " _or_ how about the time I helped you sneak out so you could go on that date with Nathan East?" She was beginning to find it harder to speak, it was taking so much more effort, but she didn't want to stop. Talking helped distract both of them. "Not only did I… did I help you do something that your dad had explicitly told you n-not to do, but I used my powers to do it. And when he caught us…"

"I don't think I'd ever seen the veins on his forehead and neck pop out so far before. His face was _so_ red," Alex laughed softly, "I was pretty sure in that moment that he was either going to kill us both with his bare hands or have an aneurysm and die right there."

"Instead he just," Kara had to take a breath, "he just said 'I'm disappointed in you both' and pointed to the stairs. The guilt — _God_. Worst thing ever." She tried to laugh, but the moment she did, fire bloomed up her stomach and spine, robbing her of breath. Her muscles seized at the pain and darkness began to creep into her vision.

"Oh God, Kara," Alex all but whimpered.

Kara waited for what felt like an eternity for the shrieking in her nerve endings to die back down to the constant slicing ache before she was able to speak again. "M'okay, Alex. I just— I just can't laugh."

"You shouldn't even be speaking," Alex said, anger born of helplessness rising again. "You shouldn't even be here! This is taking too long. _They're_ taking too long."

Kara could hear the sirens outside, but she wasn't sure they'd actually reached the building yet.

"I can't just sit here anymore. I have to get you help."

Kara frowned slightly. "The fire department is almost here," she pointed out.

"Even so, they won't be fast enough. I need— I need—" Alex's eyes were off of Kara and were now frantically darting about the demolished loft. "My phone! I need it. Where— The kitchen counter, next to the fridge!" She looked back down at Kara. "I need to go get it."

"Alex…"

"Unless yours is somewhere closer?" she questioned hopefully.

Kara glanced toward the destruction. "Miiiiiine… was on the table… which is currently being crushed beneath that support beam." She gestured weakly toward it. "What is getting a phone going to do anyway? Who do you know besides me who would be quicker than the firemen?" She paused a beat, squinting an eye at her sister. "You're not going to call Superman, are you?"

Alex gave her a deadpanned look. "Kryptonite bomb, Kara. Even without him being caught in the blast, it's still all over the place. He'd be as weak as the rest of us."

"Ah. Right."

"I'm just— I'm gonna go get my phone."

"Alex, it's not safe," Kara protested.

Alex squeezed Kara's hand gently. "Kara, for once, let someone else be the hero, okay? I'm going to go get you help."

Fear swelled in Kara's chest and brought tears to her eyes, but she nodded anyway. "Okay," she whispered.

Alex smiled and kissed Kara's knuckles. "I love you. I'll be right back."

Kara tried to smile back, but it came out more of an exhausted grimace. "Love _you_."

After taking Kara's hand and pressing it to the abdomen wound with the firm instruction of, "Keep pressure here," Alex carefully lifted Kara's head and transferred it from where it had been resting on her thigh to a slightly-charred couch pillow that had gotten thrown free in the blast. She pressed a second kiss to Kara's forehead and climbed stiffly to her feet. "I'll be quick."

"Don't be quick. Be safe."

Alex smiled and moved cautiously toward the destruction, leaving Kara behind to hold her breath.

With each shift in the debris, each squeal of straining metal, each screeching-crunch of breaking glass, Kara felt herself tense. She wondered briefly if this was what Alex felt every time she flew out the door as Supergirl, this twisting worry in her gut.

"It's not that bad," Alex called back to her. "I think… I think I can get to it." She was crawling underneath a huge slab of brick and sheetrock and all Kara could see of her was her red and green striped socks.

"It's okay if you can't," Kara rasped back. She just didn't want her sister feeling guilty about something she had no control over, in case she couldn't reach the phone.

"I can." The reply was firm and determined. Kara knew Alex wasn't going to give up. She both loved and sometimes feared that trait in her sister.

She continued to wait.

As she lied there quietly, Kara noticed that she was starting to feel… cold and it made her frown. It was a particularly peculiar sensation for someone who never really felt it before, at least not in the way that humans did, and to feel it slowly spreading throughout her body was both bizarre and alarming. She knew it wasn't a good sign. She still didn't understand what Alex planned to do with her phone, but whatever it was, she did hope she found it sooner rather than later.

_RRRRRumble— THUD!_

Something heavy crashed brutally into the hardwood floor, causing a cacophony of angry screeching steel and grinding stone.

"ALEX!" Kara screamed as she surged upward …and _immediately_ regretted it. Her damaged nerves screamed at the movement and she cried out, unable to help herself. Her vision exploded with light and swirling shadows and she was sure that she was going to pass out. She collapsed back onto the pillow and panted harshly.

"I'm okay, I'm okay!"

Relief flooded Kara, dulling the worst bite of the pain. "What—" She stopped short when the word came out as nothing more than a tense whisper. She closed her eyes and breathed in and out, in and out, in and out until she felt her tightness in her throat and chest loosen some. She tried again. "What happened?" This time her voice carried.

"Nothing! Pushed something a little too far. It collapsed. No big deal," Alex called over the mountain of debris. "Almost there!"

No big deal? Kara wanted to smack her.

"Hold on— I think… Ha!"

"What?" Kara asked, lifting her head slightly to see if she could spot her sister. "What?!"

Alex suddenly popped into view through a small opening in the rubble, a big grin on her face. She held up the phone for Kara to see. "Got it! I'm going to call for help and we'll have you out of there in just a—" Her joyful announcement was swallowed by a thunderous cracking sound and then all of a sudden she disappeared from sight in a cloud of dust and shattering, clamorous collapse.

The floor had given out.

"ALEX!" Kara cried. "ALEX!"

She waited for a reply, but this time, however, there was none.

"No, _no_ ," she whimpered. She had to get to her. _She had to get to her_.

Gritting her teeth and sucking in a steeling breath, Kara executed an agonizing roll over onto her stomach and reached forward with her arms to start to drag herself in the direction of where her sister had fallen through the floor. How, precisely, she was going to get through the wreckage and to her, she hadn't quite figured out, but decided she would cross that bridge when she got to it.

Just as she was about to make her first move toward Alex, she noticed something that had her pause for a beat — _the blood._ Her hand, the one Alex had had her using to keep pressure on her abdomen was completely covered in it, crimson and warm. Even with all the people she had helped, she couldn't recall ever seeing that much blood before and to know it was her own? It made her woozy with both nausea and fear.

The fear for her sister, however, was far more consuming and compelled her into action. Kara began dragging herself inch by excruciating inch across the remains of her once-beautiful apartment. Each time she pulled herself forward, it felt as if she were being torn in two and her vision dimmed with the pain. She would not give up though, not a chance. She had to get to Alex.

It felt like forever, and it quite possibly could have been for all she knew, before she reached the little… "tunnel" beneath the slab of brick and sheetrock Alex had used to access the kitchen. She did not stop. She pulled herself in, over the glass and rubble, trying her very best not to knock anything free that might collapse on top of her.

The blackness around the outside of her vision was growing more prominent and her head was beginning to swim. She was running out of time, she knew that, but she refused, _refused_ , to give in yet.

She… would not… succumb… yet.

She made it into the kitchen and paused just a moment to raggedly pant through the agony before she spied the gaping maw in the floor. "Alex," she wheezed. "God, Alex, please…" _Please be okay. Please be okay._

She twisted herself slightly to the right and made move to drag herself closer, but suddenly she felt something _tear_ and the slicing fire in her torso and back flared so hot that she couldn't breathe. Her vision went white, then dark, and her ears rang loud with the brutality of the pain.

She couldn't… no, she was so close…

 _Alex_.

Kara's head swirled, sight fading in and out, and she suddenly felt almost completely out of touch with everything — her body, the pain, her mind. Everything now was just a haze.

She lay there, blood pooling around her, no more than two feet from the hole that had swallowed her sister, and could do nothing.

The cold was all around now. This was it.

This… was…

Vaguely, somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered the sound of twisting metal and thunderous crashing.

She managed to move her head ever so slightly toward the noise and just before the darkness swallowed her completely, she thought, perhaps, she saw a pair of red eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TBC again! Apparently brain is demanding a 3rd chapter in order to wrap it instead of just doing it in 2. I do hope you'll forgive me!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, my lovelies! The final chapter!

The haze from before had returned, welcoming and comfortable, a cocoon of warmth. She basked in it. Something niggled in the back of her mind, something she knew she should remember, but instead of trying to figure out what it was, she dove back down into the comfort and let the darkness wrap her up.

…

…

…

Growing awareness ignited her mind once more. She could sense the surface nearing and wanted to withdraw again, vaguely recalling that her last breech had not been a pleasant one.

At the same time there was a soothing orange hue that had begun to cut through the dark. An invigorating light — it was calling to her, drawing her upward through the thick, woolly fog.

…

…

…

It was bright now. Still warm, but now stiff and far less hospitable. The light felt good on her skin, but it stung her eyes even with them shut. She turned her head to hide them and it was that movement that brought her back to herself.

She was not meant to be hiding. She was meant to be…

_Alex_.

"Alex!" she gasped, snapping her eyes open. It hit her all at once — the biting light, the aches, the rigid slab beneath her back. Most of all though, it was the familiar walls of the DEO and the relief that came with the revelation… until it returned to fear for her sister.

She blinked rapidly, trying to get used to the sudden brightness and clear the nettling burn in her eyes, and attempted to reach up to push the panel covering off of the solar table so she could get out.

The light panels lifted on their own with a soft mechanical hiss followed by an, "Easy, Miss Danvers," from a very familiar voice.

Henshaw stepped into her line of sight and Kara had a distinct moment of déjà vu. It was just like the time she'd taken that huge fall after flying so far up to dispose of—

"There was a bomb!" she suddenly blurted as it all came rushing back to her. She tried to sit quickly up only to have Henshaw force her back down with a halting hand on the shoulder.

"We're aware," he told her. "We were the ones who pulled you out."

She frowned slightly. "You were?"

"Yes, and you sustained significant damage from the blast. It's a miracle you're still alive."

Kara's mind immediately went back to the most important detail. "Alex," she said. "Where's Alex? She-she fell through the floor trying to get her phone! Is she here? Is she alright?" She tried to sit up again with the same results. Henshaw seemed intent on keeping her prostrate.

"Your sister suffered some injuries from the fall, and she also needed surgery to remove a kryptonite fragment and repair some minor damage it caused to her spleen, but we have her here and expect her to make a full recovery," Hank replied.

The air whoosh from her lungs at the news and she felt heady with relief. "Really?" she asked. "She's okay?"

Hank nodded, his expression notably inscrutable. "Yes," he said. "In fact, she's been particularly belligerent since waking up. Keeps asking after you."

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Belligerent? Really?"

"Ornery perhaps."

She considered it for a moment and gave an accepting nod. "She's not fond of confinement, _especially_ when she _needs_ to be confined."

"I've noticed."

"She was worried." _Just like me._ "Can I see her?" She _needed_ to see her, needed to make sure for herself that Alex was okay.

"Considering the level of damage you're recovering from, it would be advisable for you to remain here for the time being." She opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off by a silencing hand lifted to halt her and the addition of, " _But_ since I know you both possess a particularly vexing penchant for ignoring my orders, I will take you to her, provided you both continue to rest once you're together. If not…" She heard the threat in his tone and almost smiled. She wasn't sure what he'd actually be able to do (besides maybe strapping her down with kryptonite cuffs) should they decide to (again) ignore his orders, but it was nice to know he cared enough to at least attempt to give them.

"We will," she promised.

He shook his head. "Very well." He took a step back away from her to give her room.

Kara began to push herself up, pausing midway to wince at the tight ache in her muscles and the wooziness in her head. "Ugh…" she groaned.

"Careful," Henshaw cautioned. "You're still recovering."

"I'm okay," she said as she gingerly sat the rest of the way up.

"I don't think you understand, Miss Danvers," he said seriously (or more seriously that his usual seriousness), "The blood loss was immense. You were very near the verge of singing the great hymns with the Kryptonian gods."

She frowned. "I didn't realize…" She vaguely remembered thinking about being near death, but to hear someone else confirm it was very unsettling.

Hank gave a solemn nod. "You're very lucky you sister got the call through to us when she did."

Ever after having fallen through the floor, Alex had still called the DEO? A strange mixture of thankfulness, awe, and an anxious, urgent desire to see her sister burned hot in Kara's chest. She swung her legs over the side of the solar table and climbed quickly to her feet.

Too quickly.

The world around her spun wildly and her knees went weak. She would have collapsed, she realized, if Hank hadn't been right there to grab her.

"Easy!" he scolded, tone gruff. "Did you not hear a word I said a moment ago?"

Kara leaned back against the solar table, bracing herself so she wouldn't fall. Hank kept his hand wrapped around her upper arm, clearly not convinced that she wouldn't just keel over. "I'm okay," she said, panting softly. "I just… need a minute." She waited for the world to stop whirling around before her eyes before she looked back up at him and offered a weak smile. "Thank you."

Henshaw blew a sharp, long-suffering breath of air out of his nose and shook his head once. "You lost _a lot_ of blood, Miss Danvers," he reiterated, "and were exposed to a near-lethal amount of kryptonite. You need to _take it slow_." The last three words were said slowly and gave no room for argument.

Kara nodded and tried again, this time slower. She still felt weak and was thankful for Henshaw's hold on her, but her head didn't swim nearly as much nor did her knees feel like complete jelly. Encouraged, she smiled again at Hank. "Slow," she said. "Got it."

His expression still held a great deal of rather reluctant forbearance, but there was also something else there… something that, if she looked deeply enough, seemed akin to fondness. "Let's go then," he said.

In a careful, unhurried manner, the pair moved out into the hallway and headed in the direction of the small infirmary near the forensics lab. They passed a few agents along the way, all who gave nods of acknowledgment as they moved along, and it occurred to Kara that this was the first time she'd been inside the DEO without her Supergirl suit on. She knew that everyone there knew her actual identity, but walking around now without it on, and in scrubs no less, made her feel very… exposed. Very vulnerable.

It made her want to be at Alex's side all the more. She may have been the (near) indestructible Kryptonian, but Alex had always been the protector.

It seemed though, Kara mused darkly, that neither Kryptonian nor protector had been able to stop the person who had meant them harm and that frightened her. So many terrifying "what ifs" battled for top spot as the most nauseating thought in her head. What if Alex had been the one to find it? What if she hadn't tampered with it and it had gone off later on when Eliza had been there as well? What if whoever it was tried again?

And it was then that Kara realized she hadn't actually asked about _who_. She glanced at Henshaw. "Do we have any idea yet who, uh…"

"Planted the bomb?" Hank filled in. "No, not yet. There was very little of the bomb left to process, but we're still working on it."

That did not fill Kara will a great deal of confidence. She'd always been the optimistic one, the one who always believed in the goodness in others and in positive outcomes in even the most dire of situations. Even her fifteen-year-old neighbor, Jordyn, from down the hall called her a cinnamon roll (whatever _that_ really meant) because of her cheery nature and forever-hopeful outlook on life. Today, however, in that moment, Kara truly wasn't feeling all that upbeat about things.

Then she heard Alex's voice coming from two doors down and felt an immediate surge of joy.

"I'm not even joking this time, Hernandez," Alex was saying, "It's been… thirty-seven hours and fifty-three minutes. Do you need the seconds? Because I can give you the seconds. I'm done with waiting. Get me some crutches or a wheelchair or a goddamn hoverboard, I don't care which, or I'm just going to hop my way there and make hell out of your good stitch work."

"You will do no such thing, Agent Danvers," Hank countered as he and Kara walked into the room. He nodded to Hernandez and the doctor slipped out the room.

"But, Sir—" Alex stopped short when she spied her sister at Henshaw's side. "Kara!"

Alex's face was pale, making the freckles across her nose and cheeks stand out, and it was lightly peppered with bruises and cuts, the largest being the one with the butterfly stitches that faded from her right temple back into her hairline. Her knee was in a brace and propped up on a pillow. She looked worn out, uncomfortable, and strangely small in the infirmary bed.

And she was literally, Kara thought, the most heartwarming and beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

Tears suddenly sprung to her eyes as an overload of emotions flooded her system — relief and joy at seeing her alive; fear left over from not knowing if Alex was okay and of what could have been, and guilt over knowing that she had been the cause of her sister's pain.

Alex must have seen the tumult pass over her face because she immediately held out her arms to Kara and hugged her tight when Kara crossed eagerly to her and sank into her sister.

After a few seconds of just silently holding Kara, Alex softly said, "I was so worried about you."

"I'm okay," Kara sniffed, pulling back and sitting on the edge of the bed, "thanks to you." She paused a beat as if recalling something, then narrowed her eyes at Alex and added, "And if you weren't hurt, I'd slap you for it."

Alex's jaw dropped open slightly, then she smirked, seemingly remembering that she'd said those same words to Kara right after the bomb had gone off. "I suppose that's fair," she replied.

Kara reached forward and took Alex's hand into her own. "Are _you_ okay?"

Alex nodded and smiled gently. "I'm fine, Kara."

"Director Henshaw said that you needed surgery. And your knee!" She gestured at it.

"I'm okay. Really. The director no doubt exaggerated the direness of the situation."

Henshaw clearing his throat to the side of them brought their attention back around to him. He raised an eyebrow at them. "When have you ever known me to exaggerate?" he deadpanned.

Alex smirked slightly and squeezed Kara's hand, drawing her gaze back to her. "It wasn't a big deal, I promise," she assured her. "I could have left everything as it was, but I _made_ them operate because I actually wanted to be able to hug my sister again."

Kara smiled slightly. It definitely would have been difficult to be anywhere near Alex had she left a chunk of kryptonite floating around inside her. Though something told her that her sister was lying, that she was just saying it to make things better, but for now Kara decided not to push the issue.

Henshaw shifted his weight and Kara looked back at him. He had that long-suffering expression on his face again. "Thank you, again, for coming for us," she said.

"Wasn't my first choice," he replied.

"Sir?" Alex questioned while Kara just cocked her head slightly to the side in question.

"You called me in the middle of a REM cycle, Agent Danvers," he said, expression and tone utterly seriously. "Do you know how often I actually reach a REM cycle with this job?"

"I'm going to guess… not often?" Kara offered tentatively.

"Not often," he intoned. "I had half a mind to tell your sister to figure it out herself, but then decided I didn't want to have to deal with the Kryptonian temper-tantrum that undoubtedly would have occurred had she died because of it."

Both the Danvers sisters just stared at him.

"Anyway, I'll leave you two be, but remember the deal, Miss Danvers," Hank said sternly, holding Kara's gaze. " _Rest_."

Kara blinked at the door as Henshaw disappeared out of it then slowly turned her head back to Alex. "Okay, two things. One, was he… _joking_ just a second ago? Because, if so, _weird_. And two, since when is he so… grumpy-but-almost-caring dad-like? I was quite literally waiting for him to slip in the fatherly 'Make good choices' line before leaving just then."

"I… don't know," Alex said, still staring at the door, "the answer to either of those questions." A moment later, she pulled her chestnut eyes away and met Kara's blue ones. "I think maybe he was worried about us?"

Kara considered it for a moment. "Weird," she reiterated.

Alex nodded in agreement. "Very weird."

They smiled at each other, but the seriousness of what had happened continued to lurk in Kara's mind and her expression soon turned from amused to painfully worried, "Surgery?"

Alex squeezed Kara's hand. "Really, Kara, I'm alright. You were the one who almost bled out."

"I know, but…" There was something about the entire thing that just bothered Kara. "It was kryptonite, what they had to remove from you. And I'm just confused, I think. Did it happen when you fell through the floor?" Had she been impaled then by some random piece?

"Kara, it's not—"

"Alex, please…"

Alex looked away from Kara for a few long seconds before she took a breath and returned her gaze. "No, it happened in the initial explosion."

"I knew you were using the Jesse Barker tone!" Kara accused, a strange panicky feeling flittering in her chest. Alex had been hurt and hadn't said anything? What if they hadn't been rescued when they had? Would she have bleed out, too? "Why didn't you say something?"

"Because I know you, Kara. You were going to blame yourself for there even being a bomb there in the first place —which is straight nonsense, by the way— but then to add on the fact that I got hit, too? I wasn't going to let you feel guilty about something you had no control over."

Kara was silent.

And then she was crying again. Knowing that Alex had been badly injured that whole time combined with just… _everything_ catching up with her all at one — it simply was just too much.

Alex sighed. "Kara…" She let go of her hand and she reached forward, pulling Kara to her chest and tucking her head under her chin.

"I'm sorry," Kara softly wept. Alex had been right. She _did_ feel guilty, she just couldn't help it.

But it was also more than that, more than the guilt. It was a helplessness, a feeling that no matter what, no matter _how hard_ she tried, she was always going to fall short of the hero she believed she was meant to be. She couldn't even protect herself and her sister. How as she meant to protect an entire city?

"No, we're not doing that," Alex told her. "It wasn't your fault. _You did not do this_."

"They were targeting me," Kara hiccuped, "and you were hurt because of it."

"You don't know that for sure."

Kara frowned and tipped her head backward so she could look up at Alex's face. "Um, it was a kryptonite bomb, Alex," she countered. "So, unless it was just a huge, crazy coincidence, pretty sure it was meant for me."

"Doesn't make it your fault," Alex replied. "Now stop it. We're going to figure it out."

There was no room for argument in Alex's tone, so Kara just deflated and tucked her head back under her sister's chin. She remained there until she noticed Alex's breaths hitching every so often. Kara frowned slightly, pursing her lips. "I'm squishing you," she concluded in a flat voice.

"You're squishing me," Alex replied lightly.

Kara rolled her eyes and pushed herself up off of her sister. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing."

"I'll stop apologizing when you quit hiding stuff from me." The words came out with far more bite than she'd intended and she had to drop her gaze to the floor when a frown darkened Alex's face.

"Kara, what…" Her tone was clearly taken aback.

Kara took a breath and brushed her hair back out of her face. "I just feel like…" She stared up at the ceiling for a beat searching for what exactly she was trying to say before she finally looked at her sister again. "People keep lying to me. And I know you all believe that it's to protect me and I love that you all care enough about me to want to do that… but I'm just… I'm tired of it, Alex."

She shook her head and ran a hand over her face, wiping at the tears of helplessness and frustration that were welling up. "My entire life has been shrouded in secrets and lies and I'm just… tired," she sniffed.

Alex regarded her with infinitely-pained eyes. "I'm sorry, Kara," she whispered. After a moment, she took a breath and gingerly scooted over in the bed, wincing in pain only once before clenching her jaw to keep any others from escaping.

Kara frowned. "Alex, what are you— You're going to hurt yourself."

Once far enough over, Alex patted the spot she'd vacated. When Kara didn't move to take it immediately, she leveled the younger Danvers sister with a _look_ , a look Kara knew very well not to ignore. She carefully climbed up onto the bed beside Alex and settled down next to her so that they were sitting up against the pillows shoulder to shoulder.

Alex nodded, satisfied. She reached and pulled Kara's hand over into her lap, squeezing it between both of hers. She stared at their hands as she spoke. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just didn't want to tell you at the time because I didn't want to make the situation worse. I needed you to focus on you, focus on you staying with me. I didn't want you wasting what little precious energy you had left worrying about me."

"Alex—"

"And I know, it wasn't really fair, but you have to understand, there was… there was _so_ much blood. I've never been so terrified in my entire life." She glanced at Kara, eyes haunted, her expression a maelstrom of barely-contained emotions. "I thought I was going to lose you and I just… I just needed you to focus and stay with me."

Kara leaned over and pressed a kiss to the side of Alex's head. "I'm sorry I scared you," she said softly.

Alex gave a small smile and nestled into Kara's side, resting her head against the Kryptonian's shoulder. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth."

Kara nodded. "It's okay," she said, "but can we promise from now on that we won't keep anything from each other? Please?"

She felt Alex stiffen slightly against her and there was a curious beat that passed before Alex finally replied, "Of course."

Kara thought momentarily to question the delay, but was distracted when Henshaw knocked on the door and stepped inside.

"I hope I'm not interrupting?" he questioned, though he said it in a way that made Kara think that he had something to say and wouldn't have cared either way if he had interrupted.

Alex stiffly straightened back up and shook her head. "No, Sir."

"Good," he replied before hesitating just a second, "because I've come with some news."

Kara frowned slightly at the look on his face. In general, he didn't have many different facial expressions, but once you got to know him, it got easier to notice the subtle shifts, the nuances, and what his face was saying right now wasn't good. There was a reluctance and disquiet behind his eyes. He was clearly troubled by something.

"Is it about the bomb?" she asked.

"Yes," he said before he took a breath and launched into it. "Given that kryptonite was used, it's clear the bomber was aware of your identity."

Kara and Alex both nodded. "We were discussing that earlier," the older Danvers sister said.

"We figured it was that or a very wild coincidence," Kara chimed.

"Well, we don't believe in coincidences here at the DEO, so we've had forensics working over your apartment and with the few bomb fragments we were able to recover. We were able to find trace amounts of DNA from inside the casing and even managed to pull a print."

"I assume you ran them both through the database?" Alex questioned. "What did it come up with?"

Henshaw's jaw clenched tightly for a moment. "They were both a match to the same person—"

"Me," Kara interrupted, deflating in disappointed. It made sense. She had been the one to open up the bomb right before it went off.

"No."

Alex frowned and Kara blinked. "What?"

"We discounted you, Miss Danvers, because we knew you had handled the device prior to detonation."

"So who does the print and DNA belong to?" Alex asked, tone and expression urgent. Kara knew she was as desperate to find out as Kara was herself.

Henshaw held Alex's gaze for a few long beats before replying, "Both belong to you, Agent Danvers."

There was a befuddled silence that filled the room.

"But… Sir, that doesn't make any sense," Alex said, brow furrowed in confusion.

"Yeah, she never touched the bomb," Kara interjected. "Only I did." She glanced from Hank to her sister and then back again. "Could the DNA or whatever have transferred in the explosion?"

Henshaw just looked at Alex who blinked confoundedly and upon realizing he was waiting for her to address the question, shook her head slowly. "The, uh, the DNA maybe," she said, dragging her eyes from Hank to meet Kara's questioning look, "but not the fingerprint. I would have had to have touched it either before or after the explosion for it to be there."

"And the piece in question wasn't found anywhere near where the two of you were in the apartment," Hank filled in.

Kara frowned. "So, what? This is- this is what? Someone put Alex's print on the bomb and it's creepy calling card or something? A way to taunt us both?"

"We're not sure," he said. "We're still working and we're going to find out all we can." He looked from one Danvers sister to the next. "We'll figure out who did this."

Alex gave a numb nod. "Thank you, Sir."

Hank looked conflicted, like he both wanted to stay and leave at the same time, but eventually he nodded in return and took a step back. "I'll let you both rest." And then he was gone again.

Rest? How were they going to rest now? Kara ran a hand over her face and up into her hair, brushing it back away from her eyes. "None of this make any sense," she said.

Alex didn't reply though, just remained silent, staring at the door Hank had just walked out.

Kara turned her head to look at her sister. She frowned slightly at the chaos she could see behind her sister's eyes. There was so much confusion, so much fear, but there was also something else… She wasn't actually considering…?

"What if it was me?" Alex whispered, eyes wide and terrified.

"That makes less than zero sense," Kara pointed out.

Alex fell silent again and stared down at their hands.

"I-I don't remember coming to your apartment, Kara. I passed it off as that kind of haze you slip into when you're driving somewhere you've been a million times and just don't pay attention, but what if—"

"Don't even say it, Alex! It _wasn't_ you."

"But what if it was?"

"How is that even remotely possible, Alex? It's not! It's _not possible._ You wouldn't stick a bomb under my Christmas tree!"

"Of course I wouldn't, but… I just… I just feel like _something_ makes sense. I don't know _what_ , but something. I can't… remember or… I don't know." Alex sounded so lost, so pained, and she looked as if her mind was going a million miles a minute, like this revelation had triggered a rapidly-approaching overload. It was scaring Kara. "I just feel sick," Alex continued, "and I think… I don't know… I think…"

"No," Kara cut in, tone firm. She shifted her position so that she was sitting on her knees, facing Alex. She grabbed both of her hands in hers. "This _was not_ you. I don't know what's suddenly going on in that head of yours or where all of this is coming from, but the Alex I know, my _sister_ , wouldn't even _consider_ having done something like this. She would know that it made _zero_ _sense,_ she would take a breath, push aside all the insane thoughts, and resolve to take control and figure out what was going on." She squeezed Alex's hands and softened slightly. "And that's what I need you to do right now, okay?"

Alex blinked at her and just stared for a few long beats. Kara watched as she warred with herself, then _finally_ she took that breath. Alex gave a nod. "You're right, I'm sorry. I don't know what…" She just shook her head.

Kara smiled and leaned forward to place her hands on either of her sister's shoulders. "We're going to figure it out," she told her with all the confidence she could muster. "Because, remember, you and me? Together? We can do anything."

Alex snorted softly and gave another nod. "Anything," she breathed out.

Nodding in return, Kara moved back to her previous position beside Alex and settled back a bit more into the pillows. Alex scooted over a smidge so that their shoulders were touching before she rested her head back. From there, both sisters fell into a long silence, both lost in their own heads.

Until a stray thought had Kara speaking up again. "So, this is random, but I need to know."

Alex stirred beside her. "What?"

"I heard you talking to Doctor Hernandez…"

"And?"

"Do we seriously have hoverboards here? Because that would be _awesome_."

There was a pause and then Alex slowly turned her head toward her. "Kara," she said, "you're an alien from another planet, you arrived here in a spaceship, and you have superpowers, one of which allows your to not only hover on your own, but _fly_. How would hoverboards even be remotely awesome?"

Kara shrugged. "I loved the 'Back to the Future' movies…"

Alex shook her head and settled back down again, closing her eyes.

Pursing her lips, Kara crossed her arms and stared at the wall across the room. She didn't know what was going to happen after this, didn't know who was after her (or Alex) or if they'd try again. She didn't know if they'd truly be able to capture them. What she did know, however, was that she was just glad that she had someone by her side to help figure it out. If anyone would be able to discover the truth, it would be her sister.

Together they could anything, she'd told Alex, and she believed it completely. No matter what, the two of them would overcome this.

"Yes," Alex's drowsy voice cut into her thoughts. Kara looked at her to see her sister's eyes were still closed.

"Yes what?" she asked.

"We have hoverboards here."

A grin bloomed across Kara's face.

_Fin_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. WHAT THE HECK, HERRENEGADEHEART?! WHERE'S THE RESOLUTION? WHO PLANTED THE BOMB?! AHHHHHHHHH! *throws tables*
> 
> Okay, so here's the deal: when I started this, I never intended to actually explain who planted the bomb as it was never meant to be about the bomber. It was just meant to be a story about the two sisters overcoming a deadly situation. That is why I ended as I did.
> 
> THAT SAID, I've had quite a few of you express your excitement and DEEP NEED to know who would do such a thing and that is why I kind of finished this off with an almost episodic ending, where I slipped in some more (confusing? intriguing?) details to draw you back... because I have decided to write a sequel to give you all the answers you need! ...Of course, that is if you want me to write a sequel...? :D :D
> 
> Anyway, thank you for coming along for the ride. I hope you enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> THERE IS NOW A SEQUEL TO "TICK, TICK...". TO CHECK OUT "BOOM", GO HERE: http://archiveofourown.org/works/5668981/chapters/13058557
> 
>  
> 
> Follow me!
> 
> Tumblr: her-renegade-heart.tumblr.com  
> Twitter: twitter.com/renegade_heart


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